Have you ever been to a drive-in theater? It’s a great way to watch movies in an outdoor setting. This Chattanooga drive-in theater is affordable and has a family focus. I had the great opportunity to speak with the owner and his assistant about the business and learned a lot that I will now share with you.
Where It All Started
Where to start? That is the real question. Don Marshall opened this Chattanooga drive-in theater, The Wilderness Theater, in July of 2005. He had a vision for turning the 40 acres of land he received from his parents into a drive-in movie theater. What inspired this particular business idea was his own children. Don has five children and he hated spending $100 just to take them to the movies. And after the movie was over, the kids would always ask what they would next. However, with the drive-in, the kids could play outside before the movie starts. Instead of keeping the kids occupied for just a couple hours, his theater concept gives families nearly triple the amount of time while simultaneously encouraging quality, family time together.
Clara has worked with Don for over 25 years. She has been at the theater with Don since the beginning. I was able to speak with her as well about this business. When I asked her how it started, she told me that Don took her out to the empty land and showed her his vision. He pointed out the hillside where people can sit and watch the movies without anyone in their way. And he pointed out where everything would go for the layout.
The theater had humble beginnings of just one screen. A guy from a small town in Texas who had his own drive-in, came and helped them set everything up. After two years of business they were able to expand and gain another screen. Clara said, “It’s a fun thing…watching it grow.” It’s definitely an interesting business. Some years are better than others and rainy weekends usually don’t do well. But there are plenty of weekends that they do great, especially during the summer.
Don believes in helping the community. He even did a graduation at the drive-in last year and played the graduates photos on the screen. Since so many weren’t able to have a graduation in 2020, this was a nice treat for those students. Additionally he has hosted sun-rise Easter church services in the past. And they host the boy scouts sometimes for camp.
Bring Cash for This Chattanooga Drive-In Theater
What might surprise you is that they only take cash. They try their best to notify everyone that they don’t accept credit cards so that no one is ill-prepared when they arrive. Will they ever take credit cards in the future? Probably not. Why? Because they have to be approved by Hollywood who regulates the movie pricing even with credit cards. Not to mention this means more paperwork for the theater.
Pricing has been the same for the last 10 years because they were grandfathered in by taking cash only. Don wants to keep it affordable for everyone to enjoy. After all, that was one of the main reasons he started the business in the first place. And credit cards would actually slow down the process of getting people into the theater in an timely fashion.
When it comes to sales tax, this has already been calculated into the pricing as well. That’s why your movie ticket costs $7 even. No fiddling around looking for exact change helps speed up the process also. This idea translates to the concessions stand as well. Everything is priced in 25 cent increments to keep the line moving smoothly.
The Concessions Stand
Speaking of concessions, this Chattanooga drive-in theater is very unique in what they offer and has evolved over time. They slowly pick up items to sell that people have previously sought. For example, they started to sell blankets because kids asked for them on cool, summer nights. Eventually they added frisbees to the line up for people to buy and have fun with before the movie starts. You never know what you might find at the concessions stand to better your experience.
The concessions stand manager knows from personal experience what kind of foods to offer for the kids. Having children of her own, she knows it’s fun to change up the menu every once in a while to keep it fresh and interesting. She buys only what they need for that weekend and doesn’t keep a lot of stock. That way nothing goes bad during the week while they are closed.
They had some fried foods one year and want to bring them back, but the health department told them they need a different building type to make these food items. Hopefully soon they can get it built so they can make funnel cakes, chicken tenders, and fries again as they are all a big hit.
Behind the Scenes of Operating a Drive-In
If you’re curious about how different businesses work, you’ll enjoy this. I don’t know about you, but I really had no idea how operating a movie theater worked. I asked Clara about some behind the scenes activities and she gladly shared the following with me.
People will request certain movies but they can’t necessarily get them. The Wilderness Theater gets their movies from their booking agent. The booking agent is in Hollywood and works with all the studios to get the best movie rate deals possible. The studios also try to suggest movies per their geographic location too. For example, here in the South, R rated movies don’t usually sell as well as PG-13 rated movies.
Since they have two screens and both play double features, they have to play the movies the way the studios tell them to. What this means is, the double features come from the same company. For example, the Warner Brothers “Mortal Kombat” movie is currently a new release and is being played first this weekend on screen two. For the second feature they have to play another Warner Brothers which just so happens to be a slightly older film “Wonder Woman 1984.” Playing a double feature from the same studio is cheaper in fees than mixing companies. The fees can be based off the percentage of people that view the movie or a flat rate. There is a minimum that must be paid whether or not that minimum is met in ticket sales.
This is why if you want to watch the first movie on screen one and the second movie on screen two, you will have to exit and pay again. This is to keep the headcounts accurate that are reported to the movie studios. And because they can’t split the fees with different companies.
Coordinating Movie Times
A confirmation sheet comes in on Wednesdays with the fees for the movies that week. The theater still has the liberty to set their own start times and intermission between features. This is important because they don’t want intermissions to overlap for the two screens. If they did, the concessions would be too packed and people would be rushed to get back in time before the next feature starts. The same goes for the initial movie start time. The screen with the overall longer runtime will start before the screen with the overall shorter runtime. For the same reason, this allows the concessions more time to take care of everyone before their respective movies start.
The website is updated by Clara’s daughter, typically on Monday morning, for what movies will be showing the next weekend. Since the website is updated before the confirmation sheet is sent, you may notice (as I did) a slight delay on the actual start time of the movie. For example, when I went, the movies my friends and I saw on screen one were shorter overall than the movies played on screen two. So screen two started a few minutes before ours did. Our movie appeared “late” because of this time difference. But understanding that it’s done this way to stagger the times for the concessions, it makes more sense.
Drive-In Movie Sound
As for the sound, there’s outdoor speakers on the projection booth as well as a radio station that you can tune in to from your car radio. Don used to do the announcements over the speaker. But now someone else who shares the same passion for it does them. Don is still usually there every weekend though.
When they first opened their sound was too loud and they got noise complaints from the neighbors. So they had to get sound tests done to get the volume just right. Now it’s regularly tested to make sure it stays on track. On Sunday nights the sound is even quieter to respect everyone needing to sleep early for work the next day. On the busier nights the sound needs to be louder and on the slower nights they can turn it down.
Tips to Better Your Experience
The season typically starts at the beginning of April and runs through the end of September. But last year they stayed open through October and did a trunk or treat for the first time. Once it gets cold, most people don’t really want to sit outside to watch a movie.
Unless there’s thunder and lightning, they do not cancel the movies due to rain. In fact, some have found that the movies actually appear clearer in the rain. The only time this might be more of an issue is in late fall when fog might start to form during the night.
They encourage you to bring your own outdoor toys to play with. They’ve even had people fly kites if it’s windy enough. And it’s called the Wilderness Theater afterall. There’s sometimes wild turkeys or deer that can be observed from the theater. The theater opens as early as two hours before the first movie starts. This allows space and time for family fun outside.
As mentioned earlier, you can’t watch one movie on one screen and switch to the other screen for the second movie. To do so you must go around and pay again to watch the second. This is simply because of Hollywood’s regulations on movie theater fees and ticket counting.
If you use the restrooms when you visit this Chattanooga Drive In Theater, you’ll notice they are better than you would expect. This is because Don wants everything to be perfect. He even has a lady he pays just to clean them regularly. Often times, restrooms get overlooked at places like this and he doesn’t want that to ever be the case for his establishment.
Final Thoughts
I respect and appreciate their commitment to following the rules given to them in regards to anything they do. Such as doing what the health department has asked them to do. They always do their best and the effort is reflected in their 100 score on their inspections. They have had fireworks in the past too as long as it’s not dry. A 15-20 minute fireworks display done properly takes a lot to put together. They have professionals run it and firefighters are on site to make sure it stays safe.
My biggest takeaway from my chat with Don was this. He told me that people ask him how much money he has in the theater. But to him, it’s not about that. As someone once said, “the only money you have is the money you haven’t spent.” The theater was never a business investment for him, but a way to give back to the community and to give his kids and their friends something to do. Don has always kept family a priority. And he’s a firm believer in being passionate about what you do. Don’t start a business purely for financial gains. But build a business out of your passion and as a way to give back to your community and family.
I can’t wait to visit this Chattanooga drive-in theater again sometime soon. Who knows, maybe we’ll see each other there! And when you visit, ask for either Don or Clara and tell them I sent ya. To watch my video about this experience, click HERE. For the exact location of the theater, click HERE. And to see what movies are playing check out either their website HERE or their Facebook page HERE. Until next time, enjoy Exploring Chatt!
